Tag: work performance

It seems everywhere you turn, something terrible is happening in the world and you can't help but let it affect you. What was once curiosity has now turned into full-fledged ruminating and you start feeling powerless and sad about the tragedies occurring around the world. Not only is your mood shot, but the bad news is making your performance at work go downhill, too. Don't worry, because there is hope. We'll discuss three techniques to help you deal with bad news more constructively so that it doesn't ruin your mood or, worse, your career.

Earlier this year, PayScale told the story of A. K. Verma, an Indian civil servant who managed to avoid coming to work for 24 years before eventually getting fired for "willful absence of duty" in January 2015. Though his case, a byproduct of India's tough-to-penetrate labor laws, is shocking, Verma is not the only employee who has been paid to do nothing. Plenty of workers have found themselves in situations in which they are paid not to work.

Rituals are usually found in the sports world and within families, but they've been finding their own place in offices as well. New research from the Harvard Business School, the University of Minnesota and several other universities suggests rituals can help ease anxiety and boost overall performance in the workplace.

In a competitive job market, employers are likely to be carefully evaluating the performance of employees. This means, employees who want to stand out as high performers can take the high road and avoid becoming complacent. A Forbes article advises that, “Job security comes from making sure that your daily performance is so amazing that any company would be crazy to let you go.” As a professional who wants to stay employed, standing out at work counts.